George Torr

Over a dozen men from South Yorkshire contacted a charity helpline in one year to seek help to stop viewing child porn.

Some 15 men from across the county rang child abuse prevention campaign Stop it Now! claiming they had viewed indecent images of children and wanted to get help.

The figures also show that 413 people from Sheffield visited the campaign website to access self-help tools and information on what to do to tackle either their own viewing of sexual images of children, or that of a relative.

Statistics released by the charity also show 102 people in Rotherham and Doncaster browsed the site to seek advice.

Stop it Now! bosses said they have worked with thousands of sex offenders to help them change their ways.

Many of these cases include men who have received suspended sentences or a jail term for downloading and viewing child porn.

The campaign, run by the child abuse prevention charity the Lucy Faithfull Foundation are urging people to get in contact if they feel they need help.

Just 36 per cent of those arrested had charges brought against them by the CPS.

Detective Chief Inspector Craig Jackson, force lead for rape and serious sexual offences at South Yorkshire Police, said: “We fully support the work the Lucy Faithfull Foundation is providing access to this helpline.

“As a police force, it provides us with valuable context to assist us assessing our response to those individuals who seek to utilise the internet to unlawfully access indecent images of children.

"It is important to remember that possessing and sharing indecent images is a crime and more importantly behind every image is a child victim.

"South Yorkshire Police remains committed to identifying those individuals engaged in this type of criminality and bring them to justice, whilst also welcoming the work of the helpline in assisting people to disengage from this unlawful behaviour.

“I’d encourage anyone with concerns to get in touch with us either via 101 or 999 in an emergency.”

Last month, Chief Constable Simon Bailey, the UK's lead officer for child protection, said at least 100,000 people across the country were now regularly viewing sexual images of children online.

Child sexual abuse prevention expert and founder of Stop it Now!, Donald Findlater, said: "We help people change their behaviour and get their lives back on a decent track. Most had not thought that others would ever find out - seeing their online lives as somehow separate from the real world.

"Few had considered the consequences of getting caught. Following arrest, their lives are often in turmoil.

"Most have bitter regrets about the harm they have done to their families, to the victims in the images they viewed, and to themselves. But they also tell us they might never have stopped their illegal online behaviour if they’d not been caught.

“We need the tens of thousands of men still viewing these images today to realise that what they are doing is illegal and harmful and to make sure they stop. Here at Stop it Now! we give them all the help we can – by phone and online. And it is confidential. If this is you, please make that call. Confidential help and support is available."